Poland: Early apple varieties affected by weather fluctuations

The heat wave that is taking place in the European south east is not going unnoticed in Poland. In recent days, growers and their crops have had to face temperatures in excess of 35 degrees Celsius, compared to the 20 that are usually recorded at this time of the year. This, added to the lack of rainfall of recent weeks, has caused some drought that is taking a negative toll on the majority of the crops.

In the case of apples, the early varieties Idared, Jonagold, Paulared or Delicate have a surprise in store when consumers open them, and this is that they are dark on the inside. "These are not apples that we can sell for fresh consumption in the markets, nor export them," explains Monika Cłapa, manager at Perfect Fruits. "The only thing we can do with them is sell them to the processing industry and at least recover some of the investment we've made."

Questioned about what is happening, Cłapa, just like the rest of the producers in the same area and who are also affected, believes that some of the products that were used after the February frosts could have affected the fruit. These products are used in extreme cold conditions, in which the fruit is in danger of falling from the tree ahead of time. "We don't know if we used the treatment too late, or if the cold was too strong, so it didn't work," explains Cłapa. What we are seeing is that the next varieties, which are still in the trees, are not turning red despite the sunny weather.

At the moment, Polish producers are marketing apples they had stored last year. However, the price of these varieties, more appreciated in Belarus and whose main destination used to be Russia, is well above what these markets can afford, reaching 0.55 Euro per kilo. "At the moment, we are not at all competitive, so we'll have to wait and see what will happen after the harvest of the next varieties, which will take place within a month or so."